


You're My Reason

by firstdegreefangirl



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, I'm not gonna blow the ending, Late Night Conversations, Late Night Writing, Oneshot, Songfic, but it's kind of perfect, seriously?, will and mac are the cutest, will sings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 03:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5147915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstdegreefangirl/pseuds/firstdegreefangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac wakes up to an empty bed and a boyfriend in the kitchen. She helps him put the pieces back together again. Songfic based on Walker Hayes' "Reason to Rhyme."</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're My Reason

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on Walker Hayes' "Reason to Rhyme," If you haven't heard of it (or him), it's amazing. I heard it and instantly thought of these two. The story shaped itself from there.
> 
> I own nothing but my Macbook.

MacKenzie McHale rolls over, finding the other side of her bed empty. After groping at the cold sheet for a moment, she comes to the conclusion that not only is her boyfriend not in bed, he hasn’t been there recently. Sitting up, she tucks her feet into fuzzy slippers and pads out to the living room.

Sure enough, Will is sitting at her kitchen island, one hand wrapped loosely around a beer and the other writing furiously, then scribbling out almost faster than he writes.

“Billy? What are you doing?” she asks softly, leaning a hip against the doorframe.

“Jesus FUCK, Mac!” Will visibly recoils at the interruption. “You can’t just fucking walk in here and ‘Billy’ me! God!”

“Will,” Mac crosses to stand across from him at the island. She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear before continuing, “you were so lost in your own thoughts that a band playing ‘Hail to the Chief’ wouldn’t have alerted you.” Will rolls his eyes and grunts. “Now, what’s got you out here at 3:37 in the morning?”

“It’s not a what; it’s a who.”

“Okay, then. _Who_ has you out here at 3:37 in the morning?”

“It’s a flawless combination of Reese _fucking_ Lansing and Allen West.”

“Reese and who?” Mac’s brow furrows.

“Allen West, Republican from Florida. He just came out in favor of media censorship. I want to cover it for _News Night_ but I can’t figure out how to do it without pissing off the 44 th floor.” Will takes a drink of his beer and grimaces. “You know, these things are better at 9 p.m..”

“You’ve been working on this since _nine_?” A nod. “Jesus, Billy. It’s no wonder you can’t think straight. Come to bed. The story will still be here in the morning.”

“Mac, what the hell are we even doing?”

“Billy?”

“With _News Night_? The ratings have been dropping steadily since we covered the Greek economy. What are we doing?”

“The news, Will. We’re doing the _news_.”

“But how can we do that when assholes like West- and _yes_ I know he and I have the same party- are trying to shut us down all the time? He wants to censor any media group that had anything to do with WikiLeaks. Even the ones who just _mentioned_ it on air. You know, like _we_ did. God, is this even worth it anymore?" 

“Will-“

“Is it time I just learned when to quit and face reality? Clearly no one is interested in your- in our- ‘honest’ version of the news. They want cats in trees, Mac. Not trees falling on cats.”

“But we’re not the ones cutting the trees down! All we’re doing is opening peoples’ eyes! Billy, we’re changing the world!”

“You know, you’re the only person I’ve ever let get away with calling me ‘Billy’?”

“I kinda guessed as much.”

Will drops his head to his hands, slightly muffling his voice.

“ _What in the world am I doin’ here?_

_3 a.m. with a lukewarm beer._

_Blank sheet of paper and a bad idea for a song._

_I’ve scribbled and scratched my head all evening_

_looking for a rhyme for being_

_and a reason to even keep on keepin’ on_.”

“What? You’re not writing a song, Will.”

“It’s song lyrics, Mac. Walker Hayes, _Reason to Rhyme_.

_‘But it’s nowhere to be found._

_Then I walk across our creaky floor,_

_open up our squeaky door,_

_watch you when you sleep,_

_lean over and kiss your cheek._

_One more time when times are gettin’ tough,_

_but I’m not down with givin’ up._

_Knowin’ you believe in me’s enough_

_of a reason to be,_

_a reason to try,_

_a reason to live,_

_a reason to die._

_You’re my reason to rhyme_.”

“Will, that’s a wonderful song. But how does it really apply here?”

“ _Am I crazy?_

_Am I stupid?_

_Are my dreams too elusive?_

_Do these lyrics and the music fit?_

_Is my big break round the bend?_

_How we gonna pay the rent?_

_Is it time I just learned when to quit and face reality?”_

“No! Will! Don’t you get it? We _can_ do this! So we’ve hit a dip in the ratings? Who cares? We’re millionaires, Billy!”

“Technically, Mac, I’m the only millionaire here. And what if we can’t come back from this? What if we’re trying to do too much? What if it’s impossible to have a successful news show that actually reports actual news, Mac? What then? Do we just give up?”

“No! If, _if_ , the ratings don’t come back up, and they will, but if they don’t, then we’ll change our approach. Make it a little more gradual. We. Will. Stick. This. Out. You have to agree with me; this is a huge change for our viewers. Weren’t you the one on a ‘mission to civilize’?”

“That isn’t this-“

“And why not? How is exchanging a few viewers for educating the ones we keep not civilizing America?”

“BECAUSE! Reese wants me to go back. He wants me to do a popular show, regardless of the content. Fuck, he wants me to do a story on Snooki, Mac. SNOOKI!” MacKenzie crosses to stand behind Will and start rubbing the tension from his neck and shoulders. “God, I can’t do what he wants me to do, not in good conscience. But I can’t do what I, what we want to do on his network. He made that very clear.”

“Will?”

“Hmm?”

“I think you know what you need to do. Will, do you like what we’re doing with _News Night_?"

“I do.”

“And you need a network to produce it on.”

“I do.”

“Then you have to keep just enough of the old show around to please Reese and Leona. Maybe try not calling the Democrats names. The radical stuff can stay, just in a gentler format. Keep it objective; tell the viewers what they really need to know. Can we do that? At least for a few weeks?”

“I don’t know. Probably.”

“I think we can,” Mac takes the seat next to Will, “Now, what’s this deal with West?”

* * *

 

“Good evening. I’m Will McAvoy and this is December 12, 2010. Tonight, we’re going to try something a little different with _News Night_. We’re going to do our broadcast as usual, only we’re going to turn off the camera for everything the government doesn’t want us to say.-"

As the screen drops to black, Will hears Mac’s voice in his ear.

“You’re doing great, Will. Let’s sell this thing.”

Three seconds later, screens return to life.

“Now, of course we aren’t really going to do that. If we did, you wouldn’t even be getting an accurate weather report, because the White House is denying the existence of global warning.

“Fact of the matter is, most news to pass through your television screens, your computer monitors, your smartphones is controlled by the American government in one way or another. ‘Here’s a quote,’ they say, or ‘use this source.’ And we do. Because we want to continue bringing you the best news we possibly can.

“But all of that is about to change. This week, Republican Allen West of Florida was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Today, he gave a statement expressing his desire to impose media censorship. Specifically, he wants to hold accountable any and all media agencies informing the American people about the recent issues regarding WikiLeaks, including Fox, MSNBC and ACN. More on how this will affect us, and you, when we come back.”

_Back in 30._

Suddenly, Mac appears not as a voice in Will’s ear, but crouched down right beside him at the desk.

“See? You _can_ do the news without calling people ‘dummies’ or ‘incompetent.’”

“It’s this.”

“What’s this, Will?”

“This. This is my reason. _A reason to be, a reason to try, a reason to live, a reason to die._ This is it. God, Mac, we work so well together. My harebrained ideas and your ability to keep it clean enough we can come back tomorrow.”

 _Back in 10_.

“Marry me, Mac.”

“What?”

“You heard me. MacKenzie Morgan McHale, will you marry me?”

_Back in 5._

“Yes. Yes, I will marry you, Will. Now go finish your show. We’ll talk later.” Mac’s eyes glass over as she slides back into the control room.

“You OK, Mac?” Jim asks, seeing his EP’s face as she returns.

“Yeah, Jim. I’m good. Just something Will said that got to me.”

“I’m Will McAvoy. Welcome back to _News Night_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Questions? Comments? Concerns? If so, leave them in the form of comments and kudos. If not, go home.


End file.
